Microsoft To Release Visual Studio 11 On February 29

If you’re underwhelmed by the impending swarm of Windows Phone device debuts and news, or Microsoft’s plans to drop the Windows 8 Consumer Preview build, perhaps this additional tidbit will satisfy you: It turns out, Microsoft will also be releasing the Visual Studio 11 beta on the 29th.

Packing a new — albeit colorless — design, Microsoft states this will help prevent distractions, bringing the code to focus. Personally, I find the lack of color to be quite depressing; the last thing stressed coders need is for something to push them over the edge when they’re already emotionally unstable from code that doesn’t compile. They’ve also simplified the iconography.

On top of the aesthetic changes, a number of improvements were also made. They’ve reduced the amount of toolbar commands, added workflow hubs and preview tabs.

To be honest, I hate the whole new metro thing Microsoft is trying to achieve. There’s a delicate balance between zen and ugly. I understand they want to make things easier but such a boring and ugly palette is not helping at all. It looks like Windows 3.1 or a low quality Linux app, and I’m not flaming Linux in fact.